Distinguished Professor of Humanics (DPH)
2006 – 2007
Richard D. Dávila, Ph.D.
The Multicultural, Multiethnic, and International Aspects of the Humanics Philosophy
April 19, 2007
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SAMPLE QUOTES RELATED TO MY TOPIC
"Since its inception, this college has stood for
the study of humanics. Following the ideals
of Young Men's Christian Association, it has
studied the nature of man from three aspects
- body, mind and spirit. This conception
furnishes a philosophy for the curriculum and
is a guiding principle which gives unity and
symmetry to the work."
International Young Men's Christian
Association College
Springfield, Massachusetts
Thirty-Fourth Catalog 1920-1921
"The ideal which these men of self-devotion
must have before them and exemplify in their
lives is the ideal of social justice. Justice must
precede charity."
March 1896
Training School Notes
Presented by Rev. Charles Ferguson to the
class for Hanford M. Burr, Instructor in
Sociology
"The college sets an example of putting
service ahead of self by sharing its resources
generously with local, national, and world
community."
February 15, 1964 Issue of
Saturday Review
Glenn Olds - Springfield College
President 1958-1965
3
"The College's Community Tensions
Center was one of the first to be established
in the country. It conducts research and
offers courses and consultation in racial,
ethnic, and religious relations."
February 15, 1964 Issue of
Saturday Review
Glenn Olds - Springfield College
President 1958-1965
"As I stand here, I
certainly feel a deep
sense of appreciation
for all that this college
has meant to the
cultural and
humanitarian life of
our nation and the
world. And I am
deeply aware of this
rich and great tradition."
Martin Luther King Jr.
Springfield College
Commencement
Address June 14, 1964
"Springfield College has created on its own
campus a racial community life that might
well be extended to all America and the
world."
February 15, 1964 Issue of
Saturday Review
Glenn Olds - Springfield College
President 1958-1965
4
"The college has never hesitated to offer
equal educational and technical advantages
to students of all races without any
reservations."
Laurence Locke Doggett, Ph. D.
President SC 1896-1936,
"Man and a School
Chapter XII
Springfield College's Contribution
to Interracial Fellowship"
Association Press 1943
“Identification with society means, in a
word, "going the way of all flesh." It
means that the world is shaping us,
where we, as a college, should be
shaping the world.”
The Springfield College Bulletin
May 1965, John J. O'Connor
"But to be underscored is the fact that
even while it changes with various
circumstances, the essential philosophy
of humanics remains basically unaltered."
The Springfield College Bulletin
May 1965, John J. O'Connor
“We’ve begun to take steps to reclaim the international reputation enjoyed by Springfield College in the years gone by. Over the years, we’ve enjoyed student exchanges, faculty exchanges, fundraising, and agreements with institutions from Taiwan, Hungary, Spain, China, Japan, Sweden, Israel, Brazil, several nations in Africa, and, of course, the YMCA and the YMCA Liaison Office. The International Center and the School of Human Services played a key role in this.”
Richard Flynn, Ph.D., Springfield College President
2000 State of the College Address 5
INTRODUCTION
In 1975 I had an epiphany that led immediately to my making a conscious decision that I wanted to make a positive difference in people‟s lives before I left this planet. At that time I had already been in the workforce for some twenty years working in the private sector. I decided then in order for me to accomplish my self-imposed mission I needed to: one, get an advanced degree; and two, seek employment in the human services field and; lastly, move into higher education. I have to say that this has all happened and I am making a positive difference in people‟s lives and loving every minute of it. This has been especially so since the merger of the School of Human Services (SHS) into Springfield College (SC) in 1988. This project, The Multicultural, Multiethnic, and International Aspects of the Humanics Philosophy (HP) is a wonderful extension of my life‟s mission and an incredible correlation between SHS and the deep history of SC.
I will briefly describe the process of this past year‟s work on my DPH project in the introduction section here and then more in depth as I present the various components of this project.
In late March of 2006 I was directed by Dr. Willey, Dean of the SHS to be ready for a video conference meeting with him and the Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Jean Wyld in three days at 4:00pm. He then added that it was not for anything being wrong. The meeting was set up by video conference because I work at the Tampa Bay campus. The meeting took place and of course it turned out that I was asked if I would be this year‟s DPH. Like many of my predecessors who have held this distinction I was surprised, honored and then, insecure. I, however, accepted and then began to worry what exactly would I do? I very shortly decided to work on one of my passions, multiculturalism and multiethnicity. I asked myself does this Humanics Philosophy have any of these aspects to it. I then answered myself when I reflected on the name change for the college that took place in 1891 to the International Young Men‟s Christian Association Training School. The “international” piece was added on at that time. I thought, of course, „International‟ in itself subsumes a multiethnic approach to education. Why don‟t I start from there and see how that fits into the multicultural aspects as well as those two?
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The term “Humanics” came into being in 1905 when SC President Doggett and his associates were trying to find a term that best fit what the school wanted the degree to depict. They settled on the Humanics term which was defined as “the study of human nature” (1967 DPH, Arsenian). Human nature! That means to me all humans regardless of race, ethnicity as well as the other so called difference descriptors. So, I decided the title of my DPH project would be, “The Multicultural, Multiethnic, and International Aspects of the Humanics Philosophy”.
I cannot describe enough the gratefulness I have for the support given to me by Dr. Jean Wyld and Dr. Bob Willey during this past year. They have helped me to organize persons from different parts of the college administration who were critical for the successful outcome of my DPH project. This will become clearer as I describe the activity and interactive parts of my project.
The action part of my DPH project was to hold focused, two-hour sessions at four of our School of Human Services distant campuses with a former DPH and alumni from that campus as well as traditional alumni who now lived in the area of the campus where the event was to be held. I was looking for them to share their experience and the internalization of the Humanics Philosophy (HP) while attending Springfield College (SC) and how they used that experience back in their communities. The four former DPH persons, the years of their project and the campuses where we met are, Charlie Redmond (04/05, Boston) – Diane Potter (89/90, Tampa) – Dottie Zenaty (03/04, San Diego) – Ed Sims (82/83, Milwaukee).
The format of these four campus dialogue, table discussion and conviviality sessions was that the former DPH and I will would sit across from each other and have a dialogue (like in a fish bowl) on the Humanics Philosophy and discuss the multicultural, multiethnic, and international aspects of this ideology and the impact of such, if any, on their projects. This took approximately fifteen minutes. I then opened up the discussion with the audience by asking them the internalization question mentioned above and had them engage in discussion at their respective tables. This lasted about twenty minutes. Each table then had one person report out summarizing the outcomes of their table discussion. Also, at each event including the one described in the next paragraph the Pierce bothers, both alumni of SC provided coffee from their company which is part of a free trade association for the coffee growers in South America and Mexico. A catered meal was 7
also brought in and served buffet style. This took place at 6:00pm and the above described activities commenced at about 6:20 -6:30pm.
There was also an International Humanics Day event on 3/28/07 from 9:00am to 4:00pm. This was an important aspect of my DPH project as well. On this day we shared about not only the international focus, and also how the interaction took place on a campus that has a philosophy that is not only written, but also lived throughout its student body, staff and faculty. Alumni from as far away as Australia, China, Israel, Africa and the Caribbean were brought in as presenters.
All of these events were video taped. There will be an edited version set for my presentation to the college community on April 19, 2007 and a full version set for the archives.
The scope of my project required the forming of a DPH committee that included department representation from the following offices, Alumni, Development, Marketing, International, YMCA Relations, Library/Archives School of Human Services, and Communications to name a few. This group met with me periodically throughout the year via video conference and proved invaluable to having each of the planned events described above come together for a successful outcome. I also met in late September with a group of previous Distinguished Professors of Humanics in the Manley Room on the main campus to discuss my DPH project idea and to get some feedback from them. I showed them a short video I had put together with my esteemed colleague and friend, Ronald Milton, as an example of what I would like to present as one of my final project outcomes. The group was quite helpful and excited about the project. I will get back to the incredible resource person that Ronald was during this whole project later in my paper.
BOSTON CAMPUS 10-19-06
The first of these events took place at the Boston campus in MA. on Thursday evening October 12, 2006. This event took place from approximately 6:00pm to 8:30pm. There was a campus greeting from the Boston Campus Director/Assistant Dean, Dr. Ulric Johnson. Then Dr. Jean Wyld, Vice President for Academic Affairs provided greetings on behalf of 8
the President and then introduced Dr. Bob Willey, Dean of the School of Human Services who then introduced me.
I then gave an overview and some specifics from my literature search in the college archives. For example, a member of the graduating class of 1898, Arthur Tibbetts a full blooded Sioux Indian went on to establish over 40 YMCA associations in North and South Dakota. He served as the Secretary of the Indian Council at the YMCA Santee Agency, Nebraska from 1898 to 1903. From 1904 to 1906 he served as the secretary to the Cannon Ball, North Dakota facility. He also served as the „International‟ Secretary to the YMCA Associations in North and South Dakota.
We then began the dialogue between Charlie Redmond and me. His project title was “Exploring Spirit at Springfield College”. I asked a series of questions related to his project and some of his responses were; “my DPH project was one of the most fulfilling experiences I have ever done”. “I chose spirit because it was abstract. It was very different than the way I usually approach life” “I was very happy with the outcomes of the project”.
I will paraphrase and quote some of the comments that emerged from the table discussions. Two alums from the 70‟s shared that their experience of the Humanics philosophy while on the main campus was what many of the people are experiencing on the other campuses, energy, enthusiasm, and commitment to Spirit, Mind and Body.
Another table responded with “this activity helped to examine ourselves”.
Another was “The philosophy of Springfield College sounds like it means different things to different people, but when you finish talking it seems like it means the same thing, caring for humanity”.
A faculty member at one of the tables said that at Springfield College we not only teach a subject like English and all its theory, but we teach the “mission” as well.
The Pierce brothers stated that Springfield College opened their eyes to the “world”.
I presented to the audience in attendance the fact that Dr. Martin Luther King was the commencement speaker at Springfield College in 1964 and also received an honorary Doctorate degree at that time from the college. During the first break an alum from the 1960‟s, Mike West came up to me and shared his experience while on the campus during the time that Dr. King came up to speak at the campus. He said that he was the head of the student union at that time and actually hosted Dr. King around campus. He 9
went on to share that he was in the meeting with President Olds and a committee from the Board of Trustees while they discussed raising the money to bail Dr. King out of the Saint Johns jail in Jacksonville, Florida, and how they would get him transported up to Springfield. They succeeded in getting the money for the bail and one of the members of the board had a friend with his own plane and volunteered to fly down and bring Dr. King up to the college.
I found these kind of side bar stories were consistent at each of the events I put on and found them to be a source of information that epitomizes the richness of our Humanics philosophy.
TAMPA BAY CAMPUS 12-07/06
The greetings were handled a bit differently in Tampa. Dr. Betty Mann, Vice President for Graduate Studies provided greetings on behalf of the President and Vice President via live video to the attendees at the Tampa Bay event. This demonstrated how we are all really one campus. Dr. Mann was able to see all of us in the room and we were able to see her and have an interactive dialogue.
As the Tampa Bay Campus Director I gave greetings from the campus and Dr. Bob Willey gave greetings on behalf of the School of Human Services. As in Boston there was a buffet style meal served beginning at 6:00pm.
I then gave an overview and some specifics from my literature search in the college archives. For example, in 1906 the first person to walk across the stage and receive the first ever diploma from Springfield College (prior to that people received a certificate of completion) was William Beckett an African American man from Baltimore, Maryland. In fact, that class had one person from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, one from Nova Scotia, two from New Brunswick and one from Dublin, Ireland as well as another African American from Yoakum, Texas. This was quite a multicultural/multiethnic and international representation.
The dialogue portion of the program began at 6:40pm.
The DPH for this session with me was Diane Potter. Her project title was “Operationalizing Our Humanics Philosophy: The Keystone for a Diverse 10
and Pluralistic Springfield College”. Unfortunately she had hurt her back and was unable to come to Tampa. I interviewed her by telephone two evenings before along with Ronald Milton who brought in the recording equipment. I asked her to email a photograph of herself to me. We projected a picture of her and me up on the screen and throughout the recorded dialogue the pictures would switch to show the person who was speaking. This technique turned out to be quite effective and held the attention of everyone. As in Boston I asked her questions related to her DPH project, which by the way was the one out of all the previous ones that I felt related more closely to my topic.
Some of her responses were; “At the time of my DPH appointment the college was in a bit of uproar. There were some campus issues that involved acts of violence by some of our SC students against other SC students and the ones that were violated were some of our Black students. Also, at the time some students had ridiculed one of our women faculty members who was foreign born. Racial diversity is one thing, racism is invisible unless some actions occur, and there had been some actions that we would call racism in late 1988, beginning of 1989. There was an atmosphere of lack of acceptance”.
Of note, as I am writing up this piece by Diane, I am reflecting on when the School of Human Services merged with Springfield College in September of 1988. The Coordinator of our bachelor program was a Black Muslim and lived in New Haven, CT. He made arrangements with the college to stay in a dorm room during the week. One evening in December as he was leaving the office with office material to return to his dorm room, he was stopped by campus police. They pushed him up against the police car and searched him. They brought him to their office and then called his wife in New Haven and asked her if she knew where her husband was? She replied that he was up at campus working and staying in a dorm room at night during the week. She then asked them why they were asking her that and they just hung up. So, I can attest to the accuracy of Diane‟s description of the times.
Diane went on to state that, “Pluralism was a different factor and one I felt was equally important because it speaks to the values people had about racism, about difference of diverse populations, ethnicity in addition to sexism happening at the college”.
Some of the table discussion report out statements were: 11
1. “We explored and Sharon spoke to how her life changed as a student. Then we asked the question, what would it be like if every person in the world had an opportunity to experience Springfield College? What kind of world would we have?”
2. “Just coming to SC we are able to challenge people when we recognize prejudice or things like that on racial issues and ask the right questions.”
3. “We transform ourselves to provide services to mankind – that‟s how we apply it. How we deliver it is the paradigm of intercultural, interracial and interreligious which has the common word, inter or connectedness. Such an education broadens our world view and connects us globally and deepens us religiously.
4. The Pierce brothers cited that they and their sister were all students on campus at one time with one graduating in 1990, one in 1991 and then the last one in 1992. Remember they are involved with the “free trade agreement” as the foundation of their coffee business.
5. A faculty member mentioned that tonight reminded him of when he taught one of our courses to students in the Caribbean. He came with much material that he realized minutes into the first class was not culturally relevant. He discarded most of it and entered into a dialogue with the students and he and they learned a lot from each other.
6. One table just happened to have four persons born in four different countries, Haiti, Sweden, Colombia, and Puerto Rico. Another table had someone born in Nepal and interacting with African American alumni who attended classes at the same time she did.
The overall attendance for this evening‟s event was very multicultural, multiethnic and international.
SAN DIEGO CAMPUS 02-07-07
Dr. Reinaldo Galindo, Assistant Dean/Campus Director of the San Diego campus welcomed everyone to the event.
The greeting on behalf of the President and Vice President for this event was done by Bonnie Cox in the Development Office at the main campus.
I then gave an overview and some specifics from my literature search in the college archives. For example, in March of 1896 the Reverend Charles Ferguson lectured in a sociology class for Hanford M. Burr, Instructor in 12
Sociology. One of the points he makes is “the ideal which these men of self-devotion must have before them and exemplify in their lives is the idea of social justice. Justice must precede charity”. (Training school notes, March, 1896)
What an incredible concept being delivered at the college in 1896. We are still communicating the same message to our students through the Humanics philosophy of service to humanity.
The DPH for this session dialogue with me was Dottie Zenaty. Her project title was, “Alzheimer’s a Journey that Touches the Springfield College Family”. The key concepts from her project that I felt best related to my project were, understanding difference and many different versions of the SC triangle she photographed across the campus, in particular the one that depicts in a triangle a black person‟s forearm , a brown forearm and a white skinned forearm.
Dottie stated that she attended the two previous events in Boston and Tampa and that she was impressed with the interaction of the traditional campus alumni and the SHS alumni. A summary of her outcomes as expressed by her were: “Her project initiated keeping with dignity” (The dignity of persons with Alzheimer‟s). “We are the world and SC can make a difference and give and share. It was very meaningful and yes, we can make a difference”.
Some of the table discussion report out statements were:
1. A 1969 alum stated that he works with young students and “the focus is not only on academic program, but on their social, their cultural, their spiritual growth and development, and it all began with my experience at SC”.
2. “Springfield College and that logo (triangle) catches your eye. I can bring the job to school and the school to my job. If you don‟t work with the mind and the spirit of a person you are not changing anything”.
3. “How it works at SC is once you get involved in it, it begins to be a part of your life and consumes you. An example of that at our table was when Bob, an alum from 40 years ago committed to marry once he graduated. So, two hours after he marched and received his degree he had his wedding with his wife who is also sitting at this table tonight. Also, part of the table discussion was that we all lived it (Humanics philosophy).
4. A faculty person at another table shared that, “every semester he gets to have a dialogue with students on the issues of how we understand the 13
world, what brought us to have this understanding, and how do we recognize our differences, at the same time understanding our commonality. We use that common ground to stand together to connect across differences”.
5. Linda who finished up her Master‟s program this past term and is visually impaired shared that “SC embodies human services in the communities we all serve and they are very diverse communities”.
6. A 1997 alum from the main campus in Industrial Psychology spoke for his table. He stated “The Humanics philosophy is ingrained in each of us in different ways. We discussed how each of us utilizes the Humanics philosophy getting people to get a better understanding of each other and break down those barriers”.
MILWAUKEE CAMPUS 03-08-07
Dr. Deborah Anderson, Assistant Dean/Campus Director for the Milwaukee Campus welcomed all of the guests. Dr Jean Wyld brought greetings from the main campus and President Flynn, and then introduced me. I gave an overview of this event and the previous three events that were completed.
I then gave an overview and some specifics from my literature search in the college archives. For example, Joseph W. Bowers, (class of 1914) was a star on the ice hockey team and came from Canada. SC went up to West Point to play a game where the cadets promptly protested against the playing of a “negro”. When SC made a stand and refused to yield the West Point team agreed to play the game. “The West Point players began by “roughing up” Bowers but he always came up smiling and played such a remarkable game that when the Springfield team went into dinner that evening, the West Pointers applauded “Bee” in appreciation of his sportsmanship”. (Man and a School, pioneering in higher education at Springfield College, 1943, Chapter XII, Doggett, L. L., Association Press, New York)
How wonderful that SC was making a stand against racism and prejudice in sport that far back.
The DPH for this event was Edward J. Sims and the title of his DPH project was, “The Meaning of Humanics”. I led off with reciting some portions of his project report from some of the essays that were submitted to him from 14
across the campus that I could relate to my project and asked him to respond.
He started by stating, “the assigned task, yours and mine is quote, to keep the concept of Humanics, educating the whole person in service to all mankind alive on the SC campus and now, the campuses of SC. I think what has changed and what you brought and I haven‟t seen in the other DPH papers is the concept of multicultural, multiethnic and internationalism. As I reread those earlier papers we were not reaching out that far in the concept of Humanics as you are now trying to do and I congratulate you on that”.
It was at this point Ed appeared to be done talking and we were only about five to seven minutes into our dialogue. I then switched the dialogue portion to being an interviewer and proceeded to ask a series of questions. One of his responses was that he was a faculty member at the college for 39 years. This prompted me to pose the question that then you were on campus when Dr. Martin Luther King gave his commencement address to the college as well as being a recipient of an honorary Doctorate degree?
He then responded by saying, “When I was at the first session of these four in Boston I was struck by the concept of Humanics emerging there that emphasized justice and equality. That does not appear in the early documents by these series of Distinguished Professors of Humanics. So, there was a disconnect between the social upheaval of the times and the philosophical meaning of Humanics. I thought after Boston and Martin Luther King and his speech, but we were doing things! For example, if I can be personal for a few moments just one time? Three professors, three of us and two ministers went to the Selma and Montgomery march because we were outraged. We didn‟t think at the time, but I can see now, especially after Boston and what they‟re trying to do, yeah that was Humanics in action. That was a commitment to a moral principle”.
Some of the table discussion report out statements were:
1. A faculty member reported out for his table stating that just toward the end of their discussion “ we were reminded that science and knowledge is always moving so one has got to be ready to deal with shifting norms and that is what you all have been pointing out since 1906 until now”.
2. Paul Flair, class of 1949 and Masters in 1951 spoke for his table. “We believe we brought these kinds of attitudes and concepts to the college and, perhaps why we chose the college was because of these concepts”.
3. A 2004 bachelor degree person stated, “…for me coming here was the philosophy of spirit, mind and body”. 15
4. Another table spokeswoman stated that “she went to SC in 1951 and they had only 28 girls in her freshman class and 1200 boys. Her husband also graduated SC”.
5. The next table spokesperson was Rev. Fuller who received his bachelor degree in 2002 and his Masters in 2003. He stated, “We all at the table we are experiencing the Humanics philosophy, but with different twists to it.
6. Another table spokesman, Hank Ike, class of 1961, stated that, “Milwaukee has been a melting pot in terms of what happens in social action in America. We at the table feel that we brought our core values to the campus and learned to live it with our brothers and sisters and then brought it back to our communities”.
The final table reported that “Humanics is the heartbeat that pulls the
community together”.
It is important to note that each of the campus events cited above were kicked off with meals and conviviality. This was further enhanced by the fresh roasted coffee provided by the Pierce brothers.
It is also very important for me to acknowledge Ronald Milton „99, G‟01. His technical ability in filming, recording and photography while accompanying me at all of these events has been invaluable. His creativity and patience in editing all of the footage for the final presentation has also been so well appreciated. He has been with me late nights and long hours in reviewing all of the footage and deciding what should be edited and how best to show the material for my final presentation. Thank you, Ronald.
INTERNATIONAL HUMANICS DAY 03-28-07
A celebration of the International Dimensions of Humanics Past, Present, and Future
This was the final event of my Humanics project. I have to say that I walked around campus that day and felt extremely honored that my original concept for my project had an outcome such as this in addition to the other outcomes resulting from my campus activities. I must say that I was the idea person. However, the implementation of this very successful event goes to a committee headed by Dr. Wyld and the other departments and Dean Willey at the college.
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The day began with Dr. Jean Wyld opening up the day‟s events and introducing me. I then had the honor of introducing Dr. Flynn, President of Springfield College.
Dr. Flynn delivered an awesome message that cited specific examples of the Humanics in action concepts demonstrated by many of our international alumni since the college‟s beginning in 1885 to the present. He also shared with us the many activities he personally has been involved in with international collaborations as well as addressing the mission of the college and his and the institutions commitment to internationalism. Here are two of his quotes;
“Our mission is an important aspect and uniqueness of Springfield College. Unlike a lot of institutions of higher education, we’re not searching for a mission and not chasing one, we have one and it suits us fine”.
“… and I encourage each one of you to accept the challenges of internationalism as a part of our charge as we go forward in the future”.
The presenters (international alumni) brought in to deliver seminar presentations and the title of each are as follows:
“Public Health Policy: Making a Difference in Ireland”
Ann Hope G‟85, D.P.E. ‟88, Research Associate,
School of Social Work, Dublin, Ireland
“The YMCA and Community Development in Africa”
James Gomez ‟00, Secretary General (retired),
African Alliance of YMCAs
“The Practice and Impact of Humanics in 20th C. China”
Frank Fu J.P., DPE‟ 75, Associate Vice President, Dean, and
Chair Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, Hong Kong
Baptist University; Director, Springfield College International
Center, 1978 -1983
“Serving Humanity in the Caribbean”
Grace Talma G‟03, Chief Executive Officer,
Grace Talma Associates, Port of Spain, Trinidad
“International Humanics: Where Do We Go From Here?” 17
Rizek Abusharr H‟04, Director General (retired),
Jerusalem International YMCA
(closing plenary session)
Prior to the closing plenary session by Abusharr the following concurrent sessions took place with panels made up of mostly current international students:
 Springfield College Olympic Connections
 Study Abroad – Bringing Humanics Overseas
 Springfield College Outreach Committee in Mexico
BRIEF SUMMARY
My analysis is scattered throughout this paper as is the archival information I present. It was done that way for the purpose of using this paper as a guide to follow along with the summary DVD video I am presenting on this day. I originally was going to only present the video. However, after some early feedback from the Dean‟s Council (This is composed of the Assistant Deans/ Campus Directors of the ten outer SC campuses and some of the Administrators at SHS Central office.) to add subtitles and voice over for hearing and visually impaired persons I thought, hmmm, I do not have the monetary resources nor the time frame in which to do that. Therefore, I am 18
using this written piece as a partial fulfillment of their suggestion as well as having the quotes voiced within the video.
I also want to acknowledge Dr. Peter Polito for the inspiration I received from reading and living through his DPH project in terms of instituting the “action” into the Humanics philosophy. His neighborhood projects are not just carried out every year around the Springfield campus, but also at all of the campuses stretching to the West Coast. It is my hope a similar action can take place with this project. Dr. Bob Willey, Dean of the School of Human Services has agreed to institute my idea of a Humanics Room at each of the campuses. This room can be a multi-use room. Along the walls of the room will be a pictorial history of the Humanics philosophy along with a different version of the SC triangle placed between each poster. Each poster will also have some reminder within it of the multicultural, multiethnic, and international aspects of the Humanics philosophy.
Besides discovering a wealth of material related to my topic I made new friends and colleagues and that has been very fulfilling and an enhancing and comforting side benefit of this long year‟s work. While spending time in the archives and reading over a lot of material I realized as I have stated earlier that the college has always been a place where multiculturalism and multiethnicity existed through its strong commitment to internationalism. What is interesting is that depending on the leadership (President) at the college it was either openly acted out or covertly acted out, but was always and still is there. I believe under our current president, Dr. Richard Flynn, it has once again emerged and is “openly” discussed, respected and celebrated. I hope that newer faculty, staff, and students will continue to see this aspect of the philosophy as a super strength and continue to give voice and celebration to it, the Multicultural, Multiethnic and, of course, the International aspects.

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Distinguished Professor of Humanics (DPH)
2006 – 2007
Richard D. Dávila, Ph.D.
The Multicultural, Multiethnic, and International Aspects of the Humanics Philosophy
April 19, 2007
2
SAMPLE QUOTES RELATED TO MY TOPIC
"Since its inception, this college has stood for
the study of humanics. Following the ideals
of Young Men's Christian Association, it has
studied the nature of man from three aspects
- body, mind and spirit. This conception
furnishes a philosophy for the curriculum and
is a guiding principle which gives unity and
symmetry to the work."
International Young Men's Christian
Association College
Springfield, Massachusetts
Thirty-Fourth Catalog 1920-1921
"The ideal which these men of self-devotion
must have before them and exemplify in their
lives is the ideal of social justice. Justice must
precede charity."
March 1896
Training School Notes
Presented by Rev. Charles Ferguson to the
class for Hanford M. Burr, Instructor in
Sociology
"The college sets an example of putting
service ahead of self by sharing its resources
generously with local, national, and world
community."
February 15, 1964 Issue of
Saturday Review
Glenn Olds - Springfield College
President 1958-1965
3
"The College's Community Tensions
Center was one of the first to be established
in the country. It conducts research and
offers courses and consultation in racial,
ethnic, and religious relations."
February 15, 1964 Issue of
Saturday Review
Glenn Olds - Springfield College
President 1958-1965
"As I stand here, I
certainly feel a deep
sense of appreciation
for all that this college
has meant to the
cultural and
humanitarian life of
our nation and the
world. And I am
deeply aware of this
rich and great tradition."
Martin Luther King Jr.
Springfield College
Commencement
Address June 14, 1964
"Springfield College has created on its own
campus a racial community life that might
well be extended to all America and the
world."
February 15, 1964 Issue of
Saturday Review
Glenn Olds - Springfield College
President 1958-1965
4
"The college has never hesitated to offer
equal educational and technical advantages
to students of all races without any
reservations."
Laurence Locke Doggett, Ph. D.
President SC 1896-1936,
"Man and a School
Chapter XII
Springfield College's Contribution
to Interracial Fellowship"
Association Press 1943
“Identification with society means, in a
word, "going the way of all flesh." It
means that the world is shaping us,
where we, as a college, should be
shaping the world.”
The Springfield College Bulletin
May 1965, John J. O'Connor
"But to be underscored is the fact that
even while it changes with various
circumstances, the essential philosophy
of humanics remains basically unaltered."
The Springfield College Bulletin
May 1965, John J. O'Connor
“We’ve begun to take steps to reclaim the international reputation enjoyed by Springfield College in the years gone by. Over the years, we’ve enjoyed student exchanges, faculty exchanges, fundraising, and agreements with institutions from Taiwan, Hungary, Spain, China, Japan, Sweden, Israel, Brazil, several nations in Africa, and, of course, the YMCA and the YMCA Liaison Office. The International Center and the School of Human Services played a key role in this.”
Richard Flynn, Ph.D., Springfield College President
2000 State of the College Address 5
INTRODUCTION
In 1975 I had an epiphany that led immediately to my making a conscious decision that I wanted to make a positive difference in people‟s lives before I left this planet. At that time I had already been in the workforce for some twenty years working in the private sector. I decided then in order for me to accomplish my self-imposed mission I needed to: one, get an advanced degree; and two, seek employment in the human services field and; lastly, move into higher education. I have to say that this has all happened and I am making a positive difference in people‟s lives and loving every minute of it. This has been especially so since the merger of the School of Human Services (SHS) into Springfield College (SC) in 1988. This project, The Multicultural, Multiethnic, and International Aspects of the Humanics Philosophy (HP) is a wonderful extension of my life‟s mission and an incredible correlation between SHS and the deep history of SC.
I will briefly describe the process of this past year‟s work on my DPH project in the introduction section here and then more in depth as I present the various components of this project.
In late March of 2006 I was directed by Dr. Willey, Dean of the SHS to be ready for a video conference meeting with him and the Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Jean Wyld in three days at 4:00pm. He then added that it was not for anything being wrong. The meeting was set up by video conference because I work at the Tampa Bay campus. The meeting took place and of course it turned out that I was asked if I would be this year‟s DPH. Like many of my predecessors who have held this distinction I was surprised, honored and then, insecure. I, however, accepted and then began to worry what exactly would I do? I very shortly decided to work on one of my passions, multiculturalism and multiethnicity. I asked myself does this Humanics Philosophy have any of these aspects to it. I then answered myself when I reflected on the name change for the college that took place in 1891 to the International Young Men‟s Christian Association Training School. The “international” piece was added on at that time. I thought, of course, „International‟ in itself subsumes a multiethnic approach to education. Why don‟t I start from there and see how that fits into the multicultural aspects as well as those two?
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The term “Humanics” came into being in 1905 when SC President Doggett and his associates were trying to find a term that best fit what the school wanted the degree to depict. They settled on the Humanics term which was defined as “the study of human nature” (1967 DPH, Arsenian). Human nature! That means to me all humans regardless of race, ethnicity as well as the other so called difference descriptors. So, I decided the title of my DPH project would be, “The Multicultural, Multiethnic, and International Aspects of the Humanics Philosophy”.
I cannot describe enough the gratefulness I have for the support given to me by Dr. Jean Wyld and Dr. Bob Willey during this past year. They have helped me to organize persons from different parts of the college administration who were critical for the successful outcome of my DPH project. This will become clearer as I describe the activity and interactive parts of my project.
The action part of my DPH project was to hold focused, two-hour sessions at four of our School of Human Services distant campuses with a former DPH and alumni from that campus as well as traditional alumni who now lived in the area of the campus where the event was to be held. I was looking for them to share their experience and the internalization of the Humanics Philosophy (HP) while attending Springfield College (SC) and how they used that experience back in their communities. The four former DPH persons, the years of their project and the campuses where we met are, Charlie Redmond (04/05, Boston) – Diane Potter (89/90, Tampa) – Dottie Zenaty (03/04, San Diego) – Ed Sims (82/83, Milwaukee).
The format of these four campus dialogue, table discussion and conviviality sessions was that the former DPH and I will would sit across from each other and have a dialogue (like in a fish bowl) on the Humanics Philosophy and discuss the multicultural, multiethnic, and international aspects of this ideology and the impact of such, if any, on their projects. This took approximately fifteen minutes. I then opened up the discussion with the audience by asking them the internalization question mentioned above and had them engage in discussion at their respective tables. This lasted about twenty minutes. Each table then had one person report out summarizing the outcomes of their table discussion. Also, at each event including the one described in the next paragraph the Pierce bothers, both alumni of SC provided coffee from their company which is part of a free trade association for the coffee growers in South America and Mexico. A catered meal was 7
also brought in and served buffet style. This took place at 6:00pm and the above described activities commenced at about 6:20 -6:30pm.
There was also an International Humanics Day event on 3/28/07 from 9:00am to 4:00pm. This was an important aspect of my DPH project as well. On this day we shared about not only the international focus, and also how the interaction took place on a campus that has a philosophy that is not only written, but also lived throughout its student body, staff and faculty. Alumni from as far away as Australia, China, Israel, Africa and the Caribbean were brought in as presenters.
All of these events were video taped. There will be an edited version set for my presentation to the college community on April 19, 2007 and a full version set for the archives.
The scope of my project required the forming of a DPH committee that included department representation from the following offices, Alumni, Development, Marketing, International, YMCA Relations, Library/Archives School of Human Services, and Communications to name a few. This group met with me periodically throughout the year via video conference and proved invaluable to having each of the planned events described above come together for a successful outcome. I also met in late September with a group of previous Distinguished Professors of Humanics in the Manley Room on the main campus to discuss my DPH project idea and to get some feedback from them. I showed them a short video I had put together with my esteemed colleague and friend, Ronald Milton, as an example of what I would like to present as one of my final project outcomes. The group was quite helpful and excited about the project. I will get back to the incredible resource person that Ronald was during this whole project later in my paper.
BOSTON CAMPUS 10-19-06
The first of these events took place at the Boston campus in MA. on Thursday evening October 12, 2006. This event took place from approximately 6:00pm to 8:30pm. There was a campus greeting from the Boston Campus Director/Assistant Dean, Dr. Ulric Johnson. Then Dr. Jean Wyld, Vice President for Academic Affairs provided greetings on behalf of 8
the President and then introduced Dr. Bob Willey, Dean of the School of Human Services who then introduced me.
I then gave an overview and some specifics from my literature search in the college archives. For example, a member of the graduating class of 1898, Arthur Tibbetts a full blooded Sioux Indian went on to establish over 40 YMCA associations in North and South Dakota. He served as the Secretary of the Indian Council at the YMCA Santee Agency, Nebraska from 1898 to 1903. From 1904 to 1906 he served as the secretary to the Cannon Ball, North Dakota facility. He also served as the „International‟ Secretary to the YMCA Associations in North and South Dakota.
We then began the dialogue between Charlie Redmond and me. His project title was “Exploring Spirit at Springfield College”. I asked a series of questions related to his project and some of his responses were; “my DPH project was one of the most fulfilling experiences I have ever done”. “I chose spirit because it was abstract. It was very different than the way I usually approach life” “I was very happy with the outcomes of the project”.
I will paraphrase and quote some of the comments that emerged from the table discussions. Two alums from the 70‟s shared that their experience of the Humanics philosophy while on the main campus was what many of the people are experiencing on the other campuses, energy, enthusiasm, and commitment to Spirit, Mind and Body.
Another table responded with “this activity helped to examine ourselves”.
Another was “The philosophy of Springfield College sounds like it means different things to different people, but when you finish talking it seems like it means the same thing, caring for humanity”.
A faculty member at one of the tables said that at Springfield College we not only teach a subject like English and all its theory, but we teach the “mission” as well.
The Pierce brothers stated that Springfield College opened their eyes to the “world”.
I presented to the audience in attendance the fact that Dr. Martin Luther King was the commencement speaker at Springfield College in 1964 and also received an honorary Doctorate degree at that time from the college. During the first break an alum from the 1960‟s, Mike West came up to me and shared his experience while on the campus during the time that Dr. King came up to speak at the campus. He said that he was the head of the student union at that time and actually hosted Dr. King around campus. He 9
went on to share that he was in the meeting with President Olds and a committee from the Board of Trustees while they discussed raising the money to bail Dr. King out of the Saint Johns jail in Jacksonville, Florida, and how they would get him transported up to Springfield. They succeeded in getting the money for the bail and one of the members of the board had a friend with his own plane and volunteered to fly down and bring Dr. King up to the college.
I found these kind of side bar stories were consistent at each of the events I put on and found them to be a source of information that epitomizes the richness of our Humanics philosophy.
TAMPA BAY CAMPUS 12-07/06
The greetings were handled a bit differently in Tampa. Dr. Betty Mann, Vice President for Graduate Studies provided greetings on behalf of the President and Vice President via live video to the attendees at the Tampa Bay event. This demonstrated how we are all really one campus. Dr. Mann was able to see all of us in the room and we were able to see her and have an interactive dialogue.
As the Tampa Bay Campus Director I gave greetings from the campus and Dr. Bob Willey gave greetings on behalf of the School of Human Services. As in Boston there was a buffet style meal served beginning at 6:00pm.
I then gave an overview and some specifics from my literature search in the college archives. For example, in 1906 the first person to walk across the stage and receive the first ever diploma from Springfield College (prior to that people received a certificate of completion) was William Beckett an African American man from Baltimore, Maryland. In fact, that class had one person from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, one from Nova Scotia, two from New Brunswick and one from Dublin, Ireland as well as another African American from Yoakum, Texas. This was quite a multicultural/multiethnic and international representation.
The dialogue portion of the program began at 6:40pm.
The DPH for this session with me was Diane Potter. Her project title was “Operationalizing Our Humanics Philosophy: The Keystone for a Diverse 10
and Pluralistic Springfield College”. Unfortunately she had hurt her back and was unable to come to Tampa. I interviewed her by telephone two evenings before along with Ronald Milton who brought in the recording equipment. I asked her to email a photograph of herself to me. We projected a picture of her and me up on the screen and throughout the recorded dialogue the pictures would switch to show the person who was speaking. This technique turned out to be quite effective and held the attention of everyone. As in Boston I asked her questions related to her DPH project, which by the way was the one out of all the previous ones that I felt related more closely to my topic.
Some of her responses were; “At the time of my DPH appointment the college was in a bit of uproar. There were some campus issues that involved acts of violence by some of our SC students against other SC students and the ones that were violated were some of our Black students. Also, at the time some students had ridiculed one of our women faculty members who was foreign born. Racial diversity is one thing, racism is invisible unless some actions occur, and there had been some actions that we would call racism in late 1988, beginning of 1989. There was an atmosphere of lack of acceptance”.
Of note, as I am writing up this piece by Diane, I am reflecting on when the School of Human Services merged with Springfield College in September of 1988. The Coordinator of our bachelor program was a Black Muslim and lived in New Haven, CT. He made arrangements with the college to stay in a dorm room during the week. One evening in December as he was leaving the office with office material to return to his dorm room, he was stopped by campus police. They pushed him up against the police car and searched him. They brought him to their office and then called his wife in New Haven and asked her if she knew where her husband was? She replied that he was up at campus working and staying in a dorm room at night during the week. She then asked them why they were asking her that and they just hung up. So, I can attest to the accuracy of Diane‟s description of the times.
Diane went on to state that, “Pluralism was a different factor and one I felt was equally important because it speaks to the values people had about racism, about difference of diverse populations, ethnicity in addition to sexism happening at the college”.
Some of the table discussion report out statements were: 11
1. “We explored and Sharon spoke to how her life changed as a student. Then we asked the question, what would it be like if every person in the world had an opportunity to experience Springfield College? What kind of world would we have?”
2. “Just coming to SC we are able to challenge people when we recognize prejudice or things like that on racial issues and ask the right questions.”
3. “We transform ourselves to provide services to mankind – that‟s how we apply it. How we deliver it is the paradigm of intercultural, interracial and interreligious which has the common word, inter or connectedness. Such an education broadens our world view and connects us globally and deepens us religiously.
4. The Pierce brothers cited that they and their sister were all students on campus at one time with one graduating in 1990, one in 1991 and then the last one in 1992. Remember they are involved with the “free trade agreement” as the foundation of their coffee business.
5. A faculty member mentioned that tonight reminded him of when he taught one of our courses to students in the Caribbean. He came with much material that he realized minutes into the first class was not culturally relevant. He discarded most of it and entered into a dialogue with the students and he and they learned a lot from each other.
6. One table just happened to have four persons born in four different countries, Haiti, Sweden, Colombia, and Puerto Rico. Another table had someone born in Nepal and interacting with African American alumni who attended classes at the same time she did.
The overall attendance for this evening‟s event was very multicultural, multiethnic and international.
SAN DIEGO CAMPUS 02-07-07
Dr. Reinaldo Galindo, Assistant Dean/Campus Director of the San Diego campus welcomed everyone to the event.
The greeting on behalf of the President and Vice President for this event was done by Bonnie Cox in the Development Office at the main campus.
I then gave an overview and some specifics from my literature search in the college archives. For example, in March of 1896 the Reverend Charles Ferguson lectured in a sociology class for Hanford M. Burr, Instructor in 12
Sociology. One of the points he makes is “the ideal which these men of self-devotion must have before them and exemplify in their lives is the idea of social justice. Justice must precede charity”. (Training school notes, March, 1896)
What an incredible concept being delivered at the college in 1896. We are still communicating the same message to our students through the Humanics philosophy of service to humanity.
The DPH for this session dialogue with me was Dottie Zenaty. Her project title was, “Alzheimer’s a Journey that Touches the Springfield College Family”. The key concepts from her project that I felt best related to my project were, understanding difference and many different versions of the SC triangle she photographed across the campus, in particular the one that depicts in a triangle a black person‟s forearm , a brown forearm and a white skinned forearm.
Dottie stated that she attended the two previous events in Boston and Tampa and that she was impressed with the interaction of the traditional campus alumni and the SHS alumni. A summary of her outcomes as expressed by her were: “Her project initiated keeping with dignity” (The dignity of persons with Alzheimer‟s). “We are the world and SC can make a difference and give and share. It was very meaningful and yes, we can make a difference”.
Some of the table discussion report out statements were:
1. A 1969 alum stated that he works with young students and “the focus is not only on academic program, but on their social, their cultural, their spiritual growth and development, and it all began with my experience at SC”.
2. “Springfield College and that logo (triangle) catches your eye. I can bring the job to school and the school to my job. If you don‟t work with the mind and the spirit of a person you are not changing anything”.
3. “How it works at SC is once you get involved in it, it begins to be a part of your life and consumes you. An example of that at our table was when Bob, an alum from 40 years ago committed to marry once he graduated. So, two hours after he marched and received his degree he had his wedding with his wife who is also sitting at this table tonight. Also, part of the table discussion was that we all lived it (Humanics philosophy).
4. A faculty person at another table shared that, “every semester he gets to have a dialogue with students on the issues of how we understand the 13
world, what brought us to have this understanding, and how do we recognize our differences, at the same time understanding our commonality. We use that common ground to stand together to connect across differences”.
5. Linda who finished up her Master‟s program this past term and is visually impaired shared that “SC embodies human services in the communities we all serve and they are very diverse communities”.
6. A 1997 alum from the main campus in Industrial Psychology spoke for his table. He stated “The Humanics philosophy is ingrained in each of us in different ways. We discussed how each of us utilizes the Humanics philosophy getting people to get a better understanding of each other and break down those barriers”.
MILWAUKEE CAMPUS 03-08-07
Dr. Deborah Anderson, Assistant Dean/Campus Director for the Milwaukee Campus welcomed all of the guests. Dr Jean Wyld brought greetings from the main campus and President Flynn, and then introduced me. I gave an overview of this event and the previous three events that were completed.
I then gave an overview and some specifics from my literature search in the college archives. For example, Joseph W. Bowers, (class of 1914) was a star on the ice hockey team and came from Canada. SC went up to West Point to play a game where the cadets promptly protested against the playing of a “negro”. When SC made a stand and refused to yield the West Point team agreed to play the game. “The West Point players began by “roughing up” Bowers but he always came up smiling and played such a remarkable game that when the Springfield team went into dinner that evening, the West Pointers applauded “Bee” in appreciation of his sportsmanship”. (Man and a School, pioneering in higher education at Springfield College, 1943, Chapter XII, Doggett, L. L., Association Press, New York)
How wonderful that SC was making a stand against racism and prejudice in sport that far back.
The DPH for this event was Edward J. Sims and the title of his DPH project was, “The Meaning of Humanics”. I led off with reciting some portions of his project report from some of the essays that were submitted to him from 14
across the campus that I could relate to my project and asked him to respond.
He started by stating, “the assigned task, yours and mine is quote, to keep the concept of Humanics, educating the whole person in service to all mankind alive on the SC campus and now, the campuses of SC. I think what has changed and what you brought and I haven‟t seen in the other DPH papers is the concept of multicultural, multiethnic and internationalism. As I reread those earlier papers we were not reaching out that far in the concept of Humanics as you are now trying to do and I congratulate you on that”.
It was at this point Ed appeared to be done talking and we were only about five to seven minutes into our dialogue. I then switched the dialogue portion to being an interviewer and proceeded to ask a series of questions. One of his responses was that he was a faculty member at the college for 39 years. This prompted me to pose the question that then you were on campus when Dr. Martin Luther King gave his commencement address to the college as well as being a recipient of an honorary Doctorate degree?
He then responded by saying, “When I was at the first session of these four in Boston I was struck by the concept of Humanics emerging there that emphasized justice and equality. That does not appear in the early documents by these series of Distinguished Professors of Humanics. So, there was a disconnect between the social upheaval of the times and the philosophical meaning of Humanics. I thought after Boston and Martin Luther King and his speech, but we were doing things! For example, if I can be personal for a few moments just one time? Three professors, three of us and two ministers went to the Selma and Montgomery march because we were outraged. We didn‟t think at the time, but I can see now, especially after Boston and what they‟re trying to do, yeah that was Humanics in action. That was a commitment to a moral principle”.
Some of the table discussion report out statements were:
1. A faculty member reported out for his table stating that just toward the end of their discussion “ we were reminded that science and knowledge is always moving so one has got to be ready to deal with shifting norms and that is what you all have been pointing out since 1906 until now”.
2. Paul Flair, class of 1949 and Masters in 1951 spoke for his table. “We believe we brought these kinds of attitudes and concepts to the college and, perhaps why we chose the college was because of these concepts”.
3. A 2004 bachelor degree person stated, “…for me coming here was the philosophy of spirit, mind and body”. 15
4. Another table spokeswoman stated that “she went to SC in 1951 and they had only 28 girls in her freshman class and 1200 boys. Her husband also graduated SC”.
5. The next table spokesperson was Rev. Fuller who received his bachelor degree in 2002 and his Masters in 2003. He stated, “We all at the table we are experiencing the Humanics philosophy, but with different twists to it.
6. Another table spokesman, Hank Ike, class of 1961, stated that, “Milwaukee has been a melting pot in terms of what happens in social action in America. We at the table feel that we brought our core values to the campus and learned to live it with our brothers and sisters and then brought it back to our communities”.
The final table reported that “Humanics is the heartbeat that pulls the
community together”.
It is important to note that each of the campus events cited above were kicked off with meals and conviviality. This was further enhanced by the fresh roasted coffee provided by the Pierce brothers.
It is also very important for me to acknowledge Ronald Milton „99, G‟01. His technical ability in filming, recording and photography while accompanying me at all of these events has been invaluable. His creativity and patience in editing all of the footage for the final presentation has also been so well appreciated. He has been with me late nights and long hours in reviewing all of the footage and deciding what should be edited and how best to show the material for my final presentation. Thank you, Ronald.
INTERNATIONAL HUMANICS DAY 03-28-07
A celebration of the International Dimensions of Humanics Past, Present, and Future
This was the final event of my Humanics project. I have to say that I walked around campus that day and felt extremely honored that my original concept for my project had an outcome such as this in addition to the other outcomes resulting from my campus activities. I must say that I was the idea person. However, the implementation of this very successful event goes to a committee headed by Dr. Wyld and the other departments and Dean Willey at the college.
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The day began with Dr. Jean Wyld opening up the day‟s events and introducing me. I then had the honor of introducing Dr. Flynn, President of Springfield College.
Dr. Flynn delivered an awesome message that cited specific examples of the Humanics in action concepts demonstrated by many of our international alumni since the college‟s beginning in 1885 to the present. He also shared with us the many activities he personally has been involved in with international collaborations as well as addressing the mission of the college and his and the institutions commitment to internationalism. Here are two of his quotes;
“Our mission is an important aspect and uniqueness of Springfield College. Unlike a lot of institutions of higher education, we’re not searching for a mission and not chasing one, we have one and it suits us fine”.
“… and I encourage each one of you to accept the challenges of internationalism as a part of our charge as we go forward in the future”.
The presenters (international alumni) brought in to deliver seminar presentations and the title of each are as follows:
“Public Health Policy: Making a Difference in Ireland”
Ann Hope G‟85, D.P.E. ‟88, Research Associate,
School of Social Work, Dublin, Ireland
“The YMCA and Community Development in Africa”
James Gomez ‟00, Secretary General (retired),
African Alliance of YMCAs
“The Practice and Impact of Humanics in 20th C. China”
Frank Fu J.P., DPE‟ 75, Associate Vice President, Dean, and
Chair Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, Hong Kong
Baptist University; Director, Springfield College International
Center, 1978 -1983
“Serving Humanity in the Caribbean”
Grace Talma G‟03, Chief Executive Officer,
Grace Talma Associates, Port of Spain, Trinidad
“International Humanics: Where Do We Go From Here?” 17
Rizek Abusharr H‟04, Director General (retired),
Jerusalem International YMCA
(closing plenary session)
Prior to the closing plenary session by Abusharr the following concurrent sessions took place with panels made up of mostly current international students:
 Springfield College Olympic Connections
 Study Abroad – Bringing Humanics Overseas
 Springfield College Outreach Committee in Mexico
BRIEF SUMMARY
My analysis is scattered throughout this paper as is the archival information I present. It was done that way for the purpose of using this paper as a guide to follow along with the summary DVD video I am presenting on this day. I originally was going to only present the video. However, after some early feedback from the Dean‟s Council (This is composed of the Assistant Deans/ Campus Directors of the ten outer SC campuses and some of the Administrators at SHS Central office.) to add subtitles and voice over for hearing and visually impaired persons I thought, hmmm, I do not have the monetary resources nor the time frame in which to do that. Therefore, I am 18
using this written piece as a partial fulfillment of their suggestion as well as having the quotes voiced within the video.
I also want to acknowledge Dr. Peter Polito for the inspiration I received from reading and living through his DPH project in terms of instituting the “action” into the Humanics philosophy. His neighborhood projects are not just carried out every year around the Springfield campus, but also at all of the campuses stretching to the West Coast. It is my hope a similar action can take place with this project. Dr. Bob Willey, Dean of the School of Human Services has agreed to institute my idea of a Humanics Room at each of the campuses. This room can be a multi-use room. Along the walls of the room will be a pictorial history of the Humanics philosophy along with a different version of the SC triangle placed between each poster. Each poster will also have some reminder within it of the multicultural, multiethnic, and international aspects of the Humanics philosophy.
Besides discovering a wealth of material related to my topic I made new friends and colleagues and that has been very fulfilling and an enhancing and comforting side benefit of this long year‟s work. While spending time in the archives and reading over a lot of material I realized as I have stated earlier that the college has always been a place where multiculturalism and multiethnicity existed through its strong commitment to internationalism. What is interesting is that depending on the leadership (President) at the college it was either openly acted out or covertly acted out, but was always and still is there. I believe under our current president, Dr. Richard Flynn, it has once again emerged and is “openly” discussed, respected and celebrated. I hope that newer faculty, staff, and students will continue to see this aspect of the philosophy as a super strength and continue to give voice and celebration to it, the Multicultural, Multiethnic and, of course, the International aspects.

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